fly-away pedal

[Sylvia]

Any home remedies?

[Tacye]

I don’t quite see how a loose pedal can fly away, but gloop (beeswax maybe) in the pivot might form a temporary amelioration.

[Sylvia]

I guess fly-away is a term from the ancient past.

[carl-swanson]

The best solution is to have a technician drill out the bronze rivet and replace it with a nut and bolt made specifically for that. It takes time, the pedals have to be removed from the harp to do the work(the brass pedal AND the steel pedal bar inside the base), but it’s not difficult to do. I’m not sure a technician on the road can do it though. You really need a drill press and an anvil to work on it. Where are you located?

[Sylvia]

I’m in South Texas.

[Sylvia]

Anyway, thank you for the info.

[carl-swanson]

Sylvia- If you can get the harp up to Dallas David Williams could take care of it. A temporary fix is to take the pedestal off, disconnect the pedal spring so the pedal and steel pedal bar will stay away from the body of the harp. Take two heavy hammers, hold one against the bronze rivet on one side of the pedal, and then give the other end of the rivet three or four hard whacks with the other hammer. That should tighten up the rivet. But it’s usually just a temporary fix.

[Sylvia]

Thank you, but Dallas is a really fur piece up the road…lots of gas and time and money, so I’ll just go with inertia.

[barbara-fackler]

http://www.permatex.com/products/automotive/thread_compounds/a_threadlockers/auto_Permatex_Penetrating_Grade_Threadlocker_GREEN.htm

Threadsealers come in different strengths. Be SURE you use one that is temporary. I find I reapply this about every 18 months. My pedals stay where I want them. Use very very little. If they are too stiff at first, work them up and down to get them moving again.

Pay attention to the instructions and color. It comes in red and blue strengths too. Read and heed instructions for use.

[Sylvia]

Sounds good, but my pedals don’t have screws, and I don’t know what kind of bolt goes thru there…so I don’t know if there are threads in

[barbara-fackler]

I do this on a L&H 30 built in 1975 and a 23 from 1978. I’d guess your pedals are similar. Don’t use too much. Start with ONE drop. It doesn’t take much.

[john-strand]

about 8 inches of duct tape wound around the offending joint

BTW – David Williams does travel around Texas so check with him and see if he has plans to be anywhere near you in the foreseeable future – in the meantime, the duct tape will sure stop it from flapping around –

[Sylvia]

Which color of threadsealer should I get?

[barbara-fackler]

Yes, green is what you need. Try an auto parts store. They should have it in stock.

ONE drop of the green stuff. If you get too much it’s very stiff for a while.

Each color indicates how the stuff works. The wrong stuff will be worse than the floppy pedal.

[Sylvia]

I got the green stuff.

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